Engaging Freshmen
for an
EPICS Adventure
Prepared for:
26th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience
Addison, TX
February 19, 2007
Presented by:
Katie Kennealy, Assistant Director
The Career Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Our Student Affairs Challenges
 Engage students early and keep them involved
throughout their college experience
 Build collaborations with academic colleagues
 Raise visibility of student affairs as a resource and
a partner around campus
 Challenge students to be planful and intentional
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An Opportunity:
Early Intervention with Incoming Students
 Re-engineering of New Student Orientation
 University-wide, first-year experience initiative, tied into
the general campus mission
(University 101)
 Offered at the College or Academic Department level
 Student Affairs can be a resource and partner
An opportunity is seized!
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Academic Collaboration
University 101 & The Career Center
 2003-04 University 101 Subcommittee that
identified U101 goals and recommended content
as well as implementation strategies
 2004-05 University 101 Implementation
Subcommittee charged with coordinating collegelevel implementation and supporting content
development
 2005-06 Pilot year for University 101 across
campuses, and our EPICS career modules!
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Unique & Powerful Career Solution
 Engaging & interactive
for students
• Online – Web-based
• 24/7 accessibility to
students
• Student language
 Non-traditional, unique
approach
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•
EPICS
Cutting-edge
Developmental
Planful (intentional)
Action Oriented
 Empowers colleague
partnerships
• Create outreach
opportunities
• Academically rigorous
• Strong theoretical
foundation
• Self-contained / targeted to
our audience
• Easily applicable to all
academic disciplines and
student readiness levels
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Welcome to:
Discover your destination…
Learn how to get there!
Proudly Presented by:
The Career Center at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
715 South Wright Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 333-0820
www.careercenter.uiuc.edu
[email protected]
2006, The Career Center @ UIUC
The EPICS Team
 Content experts
• Three career center professionals
 Career consultant with technology experience
 Tech support
• Student programmer
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Guiding Components for EPICS
 Theoretical Foundation
 Technology Solution
 Action Orientation
 Collaborative Process
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Theoretical Foundation
 Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)
• concept of personal agency related to self-efficacy, outcome
expectations and personal goals
 Cognitive Information Processing (CIP)
• framework to describe career decision making
 John Holland’s Career Theory
• identify interests and match to academic environments
 Need-based Website Design
• build into the technology a dialog that mirrors interactions of
students with counselor
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Technology Solution
 Reach computer savvy students
 Engage students 24/7-- day or night
 Provide initial career exploration and resources in
a cost and staff effective manner
 Visibility and accessibility of our office’s
resources and services
 Ability to gather and analyze aggregate user
information
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Action Orientation
 Career Coaching perspective– begin with the end
in view, focus on outcomes and action
 Built in commitment to action
 Connect students with resources based on
expressed needs
 Printable results that summarize action
commitments and next steps
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Cross-Campus Collaboration
 Creating Opportunity
• Provost Office
• University 101 Sub-Committee
 Developing Content & Structure
• Career Services Council – UIUC coordinated career
services offices
• Academic Advisors
• The Illinois Leadership™ Center
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Cross-Campus Collaboration
 Empowering Facilitators
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Office of Minority Student Affairs
Liberal Arts & Sciences General Curriculum
Liberal Arts & Sciences / Global Studies
Principal’s Scholars Step Up Program
 Engaging Colleges – a few highlights
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Applied Health Sciences
Aviation
Communication
Education
Engineering
Liberal Arts & Sciences
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The EPICS Trio - Content
 Interest Explorer
• Introduces students to a key aspect of making successful
career choices – understanding their interests
 Competency Builder
• Presents students with five skills that apply to all majors
and careers
 Dream Resume Builder
• Introduces students to a wide range of experiences that can
form an impressive future resume
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The EPICS Trio - Structure
Each module has three parts:
• Online student activity
• Printable results
• Supporting instructor/facilitation resources
All are available on the EPICS website
www.epics.uiuc.edu
 Brief Demonstration
• Competency Builder & Instructor Facilitation Guides
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EPICS Login
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My EPICS – Student Activities
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Competency Builder – Learning Outcomes
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CB – Brainstorming
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CB – Brainstorm Help
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CB – Self Estimates
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CB – Immediate Brainstorming Feedback
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CB – Immediate Self-Estimate Feedback
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CB – Next Step Commitment
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CB – Next Step Selection
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CB Summary – Review
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CB Summary – Reflect
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CB Summary – Commit to Action
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Instructor Resources
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Instructor Guidelines
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Instructor Classroom Guides
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Competency Builder Guide Sample
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Current Usage
Data Collection in EPICS
• Usage as of 2/9/07:
• 4142 unique users
o Interest Explorer: 2684
o Competency Builder: 1854
o Dream Resume Builder: 818
o Instructors: 36
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EPICS Total Users by Category
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EPICS Users by Class
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EPICS Users by College
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How Students Heard about EPICS Modules
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Student Impressions-Fall 2006
 Outcomes (Y VM; Y & SW) As a result of EPICS, I…
• 52% Used career resources on campus
• 51% Sought further assistance in my career exploration
• 62% Followed some of the suggestions that EPICS
gave me for future exploration
 Satisfaction (Y VM; Y & SW)
• 88% My overall experience with EPICS was positive
• 78% I would refer others to use the EPICS program
• 68% EPICS helped me strategically plan for academic
and career success
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Student Self-Identified Learning Outcomes
 “Giving me, a freshman, a wake-up call to say, “hey, the
job hunt process is not as far down the road as you think.”
 “It helped me to focus my thoughts on what I had to do
now for the future. I was unsure if I wanted to stay in my
major, but now I am confident that I made the right
choice. Once I felt confident, I began to really enjoy my
classes.”
 “It raised my awareness towards my need to build up my
resume starting right from the beginning my freshman
year.”
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From the Numbers to the Big Picture:
What we’ve learned…
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Collective Action
 Collaborations – we don’t have all the expertise!
• Career
• Academic
• Technology
 Empowerments – we can’t do it all!
• Students
• Instructors
• Advisors
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Effectively Seize New Opportunities
 Using University 101 as a stimulus, we will
expand to a 4-year model
 Providing resources for academic advising,
diversity programs, and other counseling settings
 Enhancing relationships by providing feedback to
academic colleges and departments
 Bringing additional resources to The Career
Center - We’ve caught our Provost’s attention for
this program!
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Because your career is a journey…
From which great stories may be told!
Proudly Presented by:
The Career Center at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
715 South Wright Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 333-0820
www.careercenter.uiuc.edu
[email protected]
2006, The Career Center @ UIUC
Try EPICS for Yourself!
 Sign the request sheet
 Include: Name and email
 Two week guest log-in, Feb. 21- Mar. 2, 2007
 Log-in: first initial and last name
 Password: epicsdemo
 Be sure to check the “Guest Login” box!
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